Has anyone brought special effects makeup and prosthetics to the playa before? What was your experience like? Did it take a lot of maintenance? Did they stay put?

I'm trying to piece together some costumes and these look especially eye-catching. I think it would be fun to pair with something girly to create a stragely-cute, macabre vibe. Any other prosthetic suggestions/alternatives?

some seeing eye wrote:You are not understanding BM. It is not about searching commercial costume$ themes on the interwebs.

I apologize for giving a commercial example, but that was not the point of my post. I was asking what other burners did with their prosthetics, and how they held up on the playa. You can make your own prosthetics, which is what I was planning on doing (as 50$ for the "commercial" pair is a bit ridiculous). I figured with art being so central to the Burning Man event and experience, that there might be some makeup artists among the burning crowd - their advice is what this is aimed at getting.

I, of course, have the capacity to find costume ideas online, that simply is not what this post intended to do.

Sounds like a reasonable question to me... I dont know anything about them on the playa, but it's hot and dry. Dunno if that affects the glue/whatever holds them on. Would be a pretty freaky thing to see that out there. You might scare someone pretty good, especially if they're not quite in their right mind at the time.

"just two indecisive cowboys, trying to play a word game." - piehole"Just apply intelligence and discretion and you should be able to get away with just about anything." - Ugly Dougly

Why wouldn't you just call it makeup effects? Being a nursing student one would assume you knew what a prosthetic was and understand that the far majority of the population would not associate makeup effects with a prosthetic...

Art may be central to some, music to others and the desire to get away from defaultia for yet another group (or maybe even most)...

It's great that you're prepping for your first burn 2.5 years in advance. As you said before you were turning to Reddit and other sites for your BDSM interests maybe consulting folks that use special effects make up more frequently may produce a more straightforward response. You could even update this thread with your findings after you have tested some of your special effects makeup in hot/cold conditions. A quick search turned up this site: http://www.make-up-fx-forum.com

Best of luck.

Illuminate. Navigate. Celebrate.What would you do if you knew you couldn't fail?

9ah wrote:Why wouldn't you just call it makeup effects? Being a nursing student one would assume you knew what a prosthetic was and understand that the far majority of the population would not associate makeup effects with a prosthetic...

Well, I made sure to explain what I meant in the text of my post. In my opinion, I was pretty explicit as to what I was talking about. But I get it. I'm going to take myself elsewhere. Just kinda sucks I've had such a rough welcoming here. I expected something more.

I've changed the subject to reflect the authors intent, which was pretty blatantly obvious from her initial post & the link, even if the subject line was originally a little misleading. God forbid someone not make all their posts absolutely crystal-clear around here...

Small sfx makeup shouldn't be a problem, just use really good quality make-up (like Kryolan) - I've spirit-gummed things to my head & had it hold up fine, but I was very careful in gluing them on & making sure they were well attached before I left camp. I'm not sure about larger pieces, but I'd worry about anything attached where there's going to be movement from your body, like the legs. Once the dust gets in there, it's just going to start pulling off.

It's a camping trip in the desert, not the redemption of the fallen world - Cryptofishist

Well, I made sure to explain what I meant in the text of my post. In my opinion, I was pretty explicit as to what I was talking about. But I get it. I'm going to take myself elsewhere. Just kinda sucks I've had such a rough welcoming here. I expected something more.

i think this is a case of "lost in translation"...

i think ( i'm just postulating ) that you may have been brought up in a rural conservative environment with strict dogmatic cultural practices.

you're almost alien.

im afraid the board sees this as being trollish, or ridiculous, when actually, you are painfully sincere.

my apologies.

i kinda started this when i hopped on you (no pun intended) in another thread.

forgive the Rough & Tumble, but honestly, most of the people on here are big softies who want to help you, as long as you are willing to help yourself.

you've put up with way more than most.

i applaud that.

dont run away yet, you still have two years to find out that we actually do hide golden kernals of corn inside heaping helpings of bullshit.

Those won't last to long. They are on a place that flexes a lot. You will be riding a bike,dancing ect. The reason SE last longer on say the forehead or hand is because they don't flex near as much as say the thigh, or shoulders. On the face the sweat is escaping so your not getting the spirit gum in tacky BUT it is getting trapped under and while not make the conditions ideal for wear. Also when applying you are going to have to make sure the area is 109% dust free the same with the appliance. You will no get proper adhesion.Another thing... That is a super easy prosthetic that would cost next to nothing to make if you had the clips and band. Latex cotton and blood. Tah dah! $50 is nuts!

maladroit- Burning Man is like a second job, except you pay to work there.Burning Man is just the pre party for exodus! - fellow burner during exodus

Those won't last to long. They are on a place that flexes a lot. You will be riding a bike,dancing ect. The reason SE last longer on say the forehead or hand is because they don't flex near as much as say the thigh, or shoulders. On the face the sweat is escaping so your not getting the spirit gum in tacky BUT it is getting trapped under and while not make the conditions ideal for wear. Also when applying you are going to have to make sure the area is 109% dust free the same with the appliance. You will no get proper adhesion.Another thing... That is a super easy prosthetic that would cost next to nothing to make if you had the clips and band. Latex cotton and blood. Tah dah! $50 is nuts!

Thanks for your input! I know it will definitely be a challenge, and that it might only last for a few hours - but I will try to make it work, at least one night of gory fun!

I agree with your point about cost. They sell them pre-painted for 70$!! Craziness. Definitely was going to try my hand at constructing my own. Thanks again!

If you need help on how to make them let me know. Ps... Your not really going to see them to much at night unless your in a well lit camp , it is pitch black out there for the most part and it is cold at night so shorts or undies are going to we wicked cold.

maladroit- Burning Man is like a second job, except you pay to work there.Burning Man is just the pre party for exodus! - fellow burner during exodus

9ah wrote:Why wouldn't you just call it makeup effects? Being a nursing student one would assume you knew what a prosthetic was and understand that the far majority of the population would not associate makeup effects with a prosthetic...

In the SFX & makeup world, they're actually referred to as prosthetics. In fact, there's "Prosthetics I, II, and III" courses at the SFX school here.

To the OP: no idea how well they'd hold up on the playa as I've never tried it, but I'd imagine you'd have better luck with smaller pieces. Between sweating in the day from the heat and the dust, I feel like they'd begin to fall off pretty quickly. Where you place them will be key as well, in terms of skin movement.

"We are not always what we seem, and hardly ever what we dream." -The Last Unicorn{{ BRC Resident 2010 | 2012 | ...working on 2013! }}